Rockville

The Great Western Turnpike, also known as Route 20, was laid out as early as 1793, though a regular wagon road was not constructed until 1806. Extending from Albany to the western frontier, it fostered hotels, taverns, and businesses for travelers and local residents. The town's first settlers emigrated from Germany during the mid-1700's and named it New Dorlach, but in 1791 settlers from Sharon, Connecticut changed the name to Sharon. By as early as 1805, Rockville's active business center stood at these crossroads, where Isaac Tinkham operated the first inn and Barnabus Eldredge later bought the building and moved it across the street. In 1865, the large Fethers' Hotel was built from materials of the Grove Seminary in Carlisle, and it was destroyed by fire in 1911. Spencer Hyney opened a general store in 1871 to serve the farming community; next to Fethers' Hotel and the blacksmith shop, it later housed two different drug stores until 1969. Rockville's water came from a well in the center of the Turnpike, and farther down the hill on Main Street stood its schoolhouse and a limestone quarry. Throughout the 19th century, Rockville and the spa village of Sharon Springs kept separate identities, linked by a rough, steep wagon road, and locals called Rockville "upstreet" and Sharon Springs "downstreet." Although the two villages incorporated into one in 1871 and Rockville was absorbed into Sharon Springs, it continued to be known as "upstreet."

Sharon Springs, New York · United States